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Michael asked: “I’m wondering what the best video editing software is that I can purchase.”
Wow, Michael, that’s a really open-ended question. When you say best, do you mean industry standard, or most powerful, or do you mean offering the best value for dollar?
It’s hard to go wrong with Apple’s Final Cut Pro, but that’s only if you have a Mac as your computer. A Windows version is not available. It costs $300 but it’s the software of choice for a lot of Hollywood professional editors. In fact, quite a number of major theatrical releases were created using Final Cut Pro.
CyberLink PowerDirector and Corel VideoStudio are a couple of $80 Windows apps that get consistently high marks in video editing software comparisons, but that’s as much value for dollar as comparing features. An $80 video editing program isn’t going to give you all the features that a much more expensive program will, but if it gives you what you need, isn’t that really all you care about?
Adobe Premiere is another extremely powerful program, and is what Chris uses to edit all of our videos. It is available for either Windows or Mac. It’s been used by professional editors for a while and in fact is used by some networks as well, such as CNN and the BBC. It has also been used to create major Hollywood theatrical releases. The issue with all Adobe software is that you don’t buy it, you sort of rent it.
The issue with all Adobe software is that you don’t buy it, you sort of rent it.
You need a Creative Cloud subscription, which will cost varying amounts depending upon what discounts you might qualify for, but the regular full monthly price is $49.99. The movie Deadpool is the most recent major release to be cut entirely in Adobe Premier.
We hope this helps with what is truly a complex decision. We can recommend that before you shop for software, you make a list of the things you really must be able to do and then a list of what you would like to do. These are often two separate lists.